Residents question town on police, budget issues

BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — Township finances continue to be a point of contention at Township Council meetings.

At Monday night’s meeting, a resident argued that the police department is underfunded, as former deputy chief Thomas Finn argued, and is understaffed compared to other nearby towns. Camille Ferraro said the administration is not doling out enough to its most important department.

Ferraro spoke at a previous meeting about how she felt the department was understaffed. Township Attorney Michael Baker responded that East Brunswick’s resources, if compared to nearby towns, would come out favorably.

Ferraro took it into her own hands to do an informal study. She said she called 13 local towns, including Jamesburg and Milltown, and larger ones such as South Brunswick and North Brunswick, and asked how many uniformed officers they have. She said East Brunswick came out second to last on the list.

No one on the dais responded to her comments.

Ferraro said she was not trying to alarm East Brunswick residents, but that she did not want to see the department neglected. She acknowledged that, along with salary costs, there are insurance expenses associated with hiring more police.

She said the town has a possible budget crisis looming this year, and warned officials not to cut back on the police department.

“All we are doing is playing catch-up with the budget,” she said.

Another resident, Mark Richman, asked what contingency plan the town has for dealing with a budget gap in case the proposed deal with Toll Brothers for the Golden Triangle property falls through.

Democratic Council President David Stahl said he is confident that a deal will come to fruition.

Richman suggested the town come up with a backup plan quickly.